


fly, my little akuma and... wait what?

by mnflwr



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU Where Emilie Agreste Left, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Being an Idiot, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Nathalie Sancoeur, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Tries, Gen, Good Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Good Parent Gabriel Agreste, Miscommunication, Nathalie Sancoeur Does Not Get Paid Enough, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22057258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mnflwr/pseuds/mnflwr
Summary: “Adrien? ” Hawkmoth blurted, his shock morphing to rage. “ADRIEN AGRESTE! WHY AREN’T YOU IN BED? YOU HAVE A PHOTOSHOOT TOMORROW FOR THE WINTER LINE! NO SON OF MINE-” Hawkmoth paused abruptly, his words just seeming to register in his mind.“Father?”Oh shit.The one where Gabriel discovers that his sworn enemy has been his son the whole time.Ft. struggles with love, fatherly awkwardness, and a Gabriel who is just trying his best
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 225





	1. the butterfly loses its wings

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this is a rewrite of something I did on ff.net back in January of 2018 and if you are coming from my old fic, I promise that the plot is going to be a lot different than what I had planned originally.  
>  _*cue maniacal laughter in the distance*_  
>  if you are not coming from my old fic, thank god! I don't want anyone else to read that monstrosity so _please_ don't search for it (I have a feeling that some of you are going to search for it in spite of my protests)
> 
> so yeah! please enjoy my word vomit and don't forget to leave me a review no matter how long or short! I always enjoy reading yalls constructive criticisms and all!!

“The weather today is-”

“ _F_ _ucking terrible_ , I know.”

Ladybug groaned as she wrung the water out from her hair, albeit in vain, as the rain continued to pour. It wasn’t exactly the best night to be out and about, but as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and the miraculous duo was no exception. Finding shelter and staying hidden was a task that was near impossible, and in the three years that they had been protectors of Paris, patrol was a constant.

Chat Noir leaned onto his baton, a small smirk playing on his lips. “I was going to say it was a bit dreary, but that works too.”

“Sorry, Chat, it’s just -” Ladybug paused, her features contorting into what looked like a prelude to a- “Achoo!” She wiped at her nose with her elbow and sniffled.

“You know, milady, maybe it’s time we closed up patrol, headed on home-” 

“No, no, no, I’m fine, don’t worry about- achoo!” Ladybug continued to sneeze, rendering her near unable to speak. Chat walked over to her and placed both his hands on her shoulders. “Ladybug, I think you should go home. You’re going to catch a fever at this rate. Finishing up patrol a bit earlier than usual is definitely better than you having to skip a whole week because you got sick .”

“Chat, I’m fine, I don’t-”

“Please, go home. I’ll finish up the rest of patrol for you. Just - take care of yourself, alright?”

“I-” Ladybug looked into his eyes and saw that he was being serious. “Alright. I’ll- achoo! Go home. Promise- achoo! Promise me you’ll be careful?”

Chat grinned. “I always am, milady,” he replied, taking her hand in his and pressing a small kiss to the top. “Until next time.”

She sniffled and smiled back, “I’ll see you soon,” she said, activating her yo-yo and swinging away. “Bye Chat!”

“Goodbye, Ladybug,” he thought to himself as her figure dissolved into the night.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

About a half-hour later, Chat felt it was time to wrap patrol up. He himself was getting tired and it was becoming pretty late anyway, and standing in the pouring rain when it was like 4°C wasn't exactly a night on the town. He bounded over to the Agreste mansion and leaped through the window to his room, shaking off the water onto the carpet. As he relocked the window, he heard something. Footsteps? No, it was too light. It almost sounded like fluttering-

He jerked his head around, only to see a swarm of akumas towering over him in a hulking mass. He drew his baton, but the akumas had strength in numbers and quickly engulfed him in darkness.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself propped up against a wall, hands and feet tied up, with a cloth over his eyes. He heard someone’s steps get nearer and nearer. Cold fingers grazed his face and he shivered as the blindfold was removed. He found himself in the shadow of a tall man wearing… the mask of a luchador? _Weird_. This guy also had a thing for butterfly motifs apparently, seeing as they were everywhere: on his clothes, on the massive window behind him, he even had butterflies- no, _akumas-_ flying around him. The akumas could only mean one thing.

“Hawk Moth,” Chat snarled, “I should have known it was you.”

“Ah, so we finally meet, my young foe. I’ve dreamed about this day for ages, the day when I would take your Miraculous! After struggling to capture you for nearly three years- which, honestly, you could have at least _tried_ to be easier to capture, I'm growing old over here- I decided that sending others to do my bidding was futile, or as they say, if you want something done right, you do it yourself. And so, I have done it myself! I have finally captured Chat Noir, wearer of the miraculous of the black cat! Now I will take your miraculous, and I will be able to do with it as I please!”

“I won’t let you use the miraculous for your nefarious purposes! I’d rather die than let you possess the miraculous’s power!” Chat screamed as he struggled against his bonds, but they didn’t budge.

Hawk Moth cooly replied, “That can be arranged, however, there is something else I want from you. Now that I have captured you, I can finally know your true identity.”

Chat's stomach dropped. If Hawk Moth knew his identity, he could terrorize the people he loved. He thrashed and fought with all his might, but the bonds were too tight, and he was too tired, the world fading in and out, his vision turning dark at the edges.

Hawk Moth’s gaze soon fell to the ring on Chat Noir’s finger, and pulled it off, relishing the moment. Moments after he took the ring, a black kwami emerged from it. The room was dark, but the look of anger and disgust on the kwami’s face was apparent. Then, suddenly, Chat Noir’s transformation began to wear off, emitting an almost alien-like green glow. Hawk Moth’s eyes grew wide with realization. Chat Noir was none other than-

“ _Adrien?_ ” Hawk Moth blurted, his shock morphing to rage. “ADRIEN AGRESTE! WHY AREN’T YOU IN BED? YOU HAVE A PHOTOSHOOT TOMORROW FOR THE WINTER LINE! NO SON OF MINE-” Hawk Moth paused abruptly, his words just seeming to register in his mind.

“Father?”

_Oh shit._

Hawk Moth froze. “Nooroo, dark wings fall.” His transformation disappeared, leaving a defeated-looking Gabriel Agreste in his place.

“I think,” Gabriel sighed, “I think we need to have a talk, Adrien.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

“So it was you, the whole damn time? You’re telling me that you’re Hawk Moth, the villain who’s been terrorizing Paris for the past, what, three years?” Adrien could see nothing but red, he felt white-hot anger boiling his blood and searing his veins. This whole time, it had been his own father creating akumas, putting the lives of innocent people at risk.

Gabriel was hunched over at the dining table, his head in his hands.

“And for what?” Adrien spat out, his rage mounting. “What was your goal in doing this? To terrorize the city? To gain control of Paris? To tear apart your family?”

Gabriel abruptly stood up, his hands slamming onto the table as he shouted, “I did it _for_ our family!”

Adrien flinched, his face contorted in confusion. “I- I don’t understand. What do you even mean?”

His father slumped back down into his seat, pinching the space between his eyebrows. “I- I did it… to bring her back…” Gabriel’s voice broke. “I thought that getting the miraculous of Ladybug and… you, would… let me make my wish. And that wish,” Gabriel said, as he removed his now fogged-up glasses, “was to bring her back to us.”

Adrien simply stood where he was, gaping at his father.

“I realize now-” Gabriel stood up and looked Adrien in the eye, his own red-rimmed and bloodshot. “That my family is right here, and I’ve spent too long trying to chase something that isn’t there anymore. I don’t expect you to forgive me, not after all I’ve done to the people of Paris, or you. I just hope, rather, that you will allow me to try again, as your father.”

Adrien turned around and thought to himself for a moment. Was he truly being genuine? Or would his father simply go back to being Hawk Moth and keep the cat miraculous for himself?

His thoughts were interrupted by Gabriel. “I see that you doubt my intentions, which is… understandable, to say the least.”

“Damn _right_.”

“But, in case you want proof that I am trying to change, here.” The sound of metal clattering on wood. Adrien whipped around and saw his ring, sitting in front of him on the table. He quickly snatched it up and placed it on his finger before his father could have any second thoughts about giving it back to him. As soon as he had put it back on, Plagg jumped out of the ring and sat to rest on Adrien’s shoulder.

“I really thought I lost you, kid,” Plagg admitted, shifting closer to Adrien.

“Me too, Plagg. Me too.”

“I see that you have formed a close bond with your kwami,” Gabriel remarked. “It would be cruel of me to deny that bond. Speaking of which, I think that there is someone else that your kwami is waiting to meet.”

Plagg’s eyes grew wide, then squinted in suspicion.

Gabriel pulled his own miraculous from his jacket pocket, placed it in its usual place, and a purple kwami emerged from it.

Plagg stared at the other kwami before him. “Nooroo?” The two kwamis wrapped each other in what could probably be considered a hug, let alone the fact that their comically large heads kept bumping into each other. Plagg broke from the embrace to gaze down at Adrien, a look that seemed to ask “Will you be okay?”. Adrien nodded in affirmation, and the two kwamis floated to the kitchen- presumably, so Plagg could get some camembert and whatever else Nooroo ate to recharge.

Adrien rubbed at his neck, looking anywhere but his father.

“Look, I don’t think I can forgive you just yet. After all you’ve done…” Adrien trailed off but found his place again. “But- I do think that we can try to start over.”

Gabriel managed a weak smile in return. “ I think I can manage that. I swear to never hurt the people of Paris for my own gain ever again. Everything I do now, I do for family.”

Adrien slowly approached his father, then found himself wrapped in a stiff embrace. He quickly got over the initial shock, returning the hug.

“Father?”

“Yes, Adrien?”

“I appreciate the effort, but your hugs actually kinda suck.”

“It’s… it’s a work in progress.”


	2. how do you dad?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel Agreste's search history:
> 
> how do you talk to son  
> how to communicate with 18 year old boy  
> how to find out if your son likes someone  
> how to talk to son that you have been ignoring for the past 4 years because he looks too much like your wife who left you  
> how to be a good father  
> frsibee shops near me

“So, Adrien, what’s the dealio?”

“What do you mean?”

Nino rolled his eyes. “‘What do you mean,’ he says. What I mean, dude is that you’re walking to school. Without even your bodyguard or something! Since when is that a thing? When you texted me this morning to meet you I thought something bad had happened! Oh my god, is Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes finally defying his father’s orders? I’m so proud of you, man! It’s time you broke the rules a bit.”

Adrien raised his eyebrows at Nino, then huffed out a small chuckle. “No, Nino, I’m not breaking any rules. My dad knows I’m walking to school.”

“Dude,” Nino exclaimed as he elbowed Adrien’s side, “Are you serious? That’s so great! Is what I would say if I wasn’t currently thinking about the implications of this. Are you sure that your dad hasn’t been replaced with some alternate clone version of himself?”

“Nino, I- what? No, of course he hasn’t been replaced by an ‘alternate clone version’ or something like that,” Adrien replied.

“Then what gives?”

“Well.” Adrien thought to himself for a moment. “I guess we had a little conversation about… trust, and stuff.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The bell rang, and with that the day was over. Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and Nino walked out of their classroom as a group and exited the school, chatting along the way to their homes. That is, until Nino and Alya split off from the other two.

“Bye, you guys.” Alya waved as Nino took her hand in his.

“Wait, where are you going?” Marinette asked, caught off guard.

“Yeah,” Adrien added on. “The way to our houses is in the other direction.”

“Oh, Alya promised me that we’d finally check out the sequel to the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie. It’s been out for like, a week and a half, and avoiding spoilers on Twitter has been so hard.”

“Yeah, and we’re going to be late if we don’t go _right now_.” Alya tapped her foot impatiently.

“Alright, alright, babe, I’m coming,” Nino sighed as he put his hands up in mock surrender.

As the pair walked away, Adrien and Marinette’s gazes immediately locked onto each other.

Marinette exhaled. “So… since those two have their own thing to do, do you wanna maybe, perhaps, do something too?”

Adrien furrowed his brow, leaned over so his face was a few centimeters away from Marinette’s and said in a horrible impression that sounded vaguely like a crotchety British grandmother with emphysema, “Perhaps.”

Marinette stared at Adrien in shock for about two seconds before clamping a hand over her mouth and convulsing with silent laughter.

Seeing her, Adrien couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as well, which also turned into a fit of choking laughter.

“Adrien, what even was that?” Marinette giggled as she wiped actual tears from her eyes.

“To be quite frank with you, Miss Marinette-” he replied in the same awful accent, stroking his chin like it were a beard, “I haven’t got the faintest idea.”

“Okay, okay, please stop that immediately.” She pushed a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, and _boy_ did it shush him up. Adrien felt himself immediately go stiff with the contact, hyperaware of everything- her eyes, sapphire and twinkling with amusement, her soft finger against his mouth, and how despite the bustling nature of the street corner they stood on, the world felt immensely quiet.

 _Her hand is soft. I could probably kiss it. Matter of fact, I could probably kiss_ her _right now_ , Adrien mused to himself. _Wait WHAT-_

He immediately halted _that_ train of thought and felt the treacherous heat of a blush making its way onto his cheeks and ears.

Marinette, also seeming to realize their compromising position and that they had been standing on the street in said position for much longer than was normal, yanked her hand away from Adrien's lips like they had burned her, her face a fiery crimson.

“Ah, well,” Marinette said in an almost-whisper, her gaze firmly fixated on a stray cigarette lying near their feet and kneading her hands together, “If you’re still up for it, my parent’s bakery is only a few blocks from here, we can go get some food from there? Maman makes the best hot chocolate in Paris.”

“That would be amazing, Marinette."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Adrien realized that it had become dark outside and that he had let himself get carried away in talking to Marinette and so took his leave, buying a few cheese danishes “for later” (they were actually for Plagg). He really didn’t want to leave, but if he was to get his homework done in time for patrol, he’d have to get home quickly.

After saying his goodbyes to Marinette and thanking her parents for the desserts, he left the bakery and went on his usual route to the Agreste mansion.

When Adrien opened the massive door leading into his home, he was expecting to see the Gorilla roaming the hallways of the Agreste mansion, trying to get his step count in, or Nathalie ready with his evening agenda. He was definitely not expecting to see his father standing there, and especially not wearing _pajamas_.

“Now, now, now, Adrien, before you say anything-

“I have never seen you wear pajamas in my _entire life_ what the-”

“Just let me explain-”

“Wait, is that coffee mug full of wine _-_ ”

“Adrien!” Gabriel shrieked, then scratched his head for a moment. “The thing is, being Hawkmoth was actually much more work than you might think. It required a lot of planning, scheming, the execution was only the cherry on top!”

Adrien had an unimpressed look on his face. “Your point being?”

“My point,” Gabriel sighed, “Is that I had to pretend like I was working during all the time that I was Hawkmoth. But then, I would get behind on _actual_ work, resorting to me working _all_ the _time_. And now that a large portion of that ‘work’ is gone now, I actually have some free time, so, pajamas.” Gabriel gestured to himself sheepishly.

“That- you know what? Nevermind. I’m going to go do my homework.”

“Adrien, why don’t you bring your homework downstairs? We can talk while you do it, maybe I can even help you-”

“I’m good!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

After Adrien finished his homework, he prepared to get ready for patrol. Then, he realized that since Hawkmoth was no longer active, patrol was no longer needed. _But_ , he remembered _, Ladybug doesn’t know that._ _She’s going to be waiting for me_. He quickly suited up, opened his window, and leaped out.

Ladybug smiled at him, leaned up against a wall at their usual meetup spot.

“What took you so long, chaton?”

“Ah, just homework. You know how it is.”

“Ugh, do I ever. Between superhero-ing and school and helping out at my family’s ba- er, business, I never have time for anything.”

“Actually-” _Wait_ . He couldn’t tell Ladybug that Hawkmoth was gone for good because then she’d ask how he knew and he couldn’t just tell her _Oh ho ho ho, little did you know Ladybug, Hawkmoth is actually world-renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, and he told me that the only reason that he was doing the whole villain schtick was to bring back my mom who left us, but since I’m Chat Noir he decided to drop the evil-villain-akumatization thing, oh and the only reason I know all this because I’m actually his son, Adrien Agreste, world-famous fashion model-_ no. That would never work, he’d have to make a plan to-

“You said something, Chat?” Ladybug looked at him, but to Adrien, it felt like she was looking _through_ him.

“Oh, ahaha, nothing. I forgot what I was going to say anyway.”

“Hm. Okay, if you say so. By the way, have you seen the sequel to the movie about us?”

Adrien's face split into a Cheshire grin. “You bet I have. It’s so funny!”

“It’s incredibly inaccurate to what we actually do.” Ladybug laughed.

“But that’s why it’s so great! It’s a part of the charm.”

“Whatever you say, chaton.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

Patrol ended uneventfully, as Adrien expected, considering no one was doing anymore akumatization for the time being.

As Adrien got ready for bed, he heard a knock on his door. He cracked it open to see his father in the doorway.

“Father, what are you doing?”

“I came to say goodnight.”

“Uh, 'kay then. Goodnight.” Adrien moved to close the door but before he could, his father stuck his foot in the doorway.

“Father, what is it? I get it, you want to try again at the whole dad thing, but I’m tired and I want to sleep.”

“I know you left to go be Chat Noir about two hours ago."

Adrien froze, then scrunched his face in irritation. “So what?”

“You don’t need to be Chat Noir anymore,” his father stated plainly.

“Are you going to stop me from doing that too? Just like you made me stop everything I liked as a kid? Is that it?” Adrien could feel the years-old resentment churning away in his stomach. _I'd like to see him try to stop me. He can't take this away from me too._

“Relax, Adrien. I’m not going to stop you. Besides, it reminds me of my younger days- sneaking out to go see your mother.”

“You actually did fun stuff when you were younger? Impossible.”

His father took a deep inhale. “Yes, Adrien, when I was a youngster like you-”

“Never say youngster ever again-”

“As I was _saying_ , it reminds me of how my parents didn’t let me see your mother when I was younger. They said it was because I had to marry someone with a less ‘frivolous’ career. They thought I would never amount to anything when I said I wanted to go into fashion. I don’t want to be the kind of parent that my parents were.”

“Okay, father, that’s very sweet and all, but I have to sleep-”

“Say, I remember a certain video on the Ladyblog a few years ago where one Chat Noir kissed Lady-”

“Nope. Nope. We are _not_ discussing this. No-”

“Oh, come on, Adrien, now you’re the one who’s no fun-”

“Why were you even _reading_ the Ladyblog-”

“A good villain does his research-”

"The same kind of 'good villain' that got himself caught-"

"Adrien, come on, if anything _I_ caught _you_ -"

“I don’t even like Ladybug anymore!” Adrien squawked, throwing his hands into the air in an exasperated motion.

“Oh.” Gabriel scratched his chin. “It seems I was wrong."

“Yeah, you were. Now if you’ll _excuse_ me-”

“Is it that Marinette girl?”

“I- wait- what?” Adrien’s eyes grew wide as he felt all the blood in his body rush away from his extremities to his face.

“You know, the one who won my fashion contest a while back. Is she the girl you like? I've seen you hang out with your friends and I see how you look at her. Honestly, Adrien, I'm not blind.”

“What?” Adrien sputtered. “No! Marinette’s just one of my close friends! How was she even one of your guesses-”

“I could’ve sworn-”

“Father, I get that you’re trying to be a better dad, but meddling in my love life isn’t how you do it.”

“So you agree?”

“What?”

“That you’re in love with Marinette.”

“I- she- we- you- we're not- _goodnight_ , Father!” Adrien sputtered, slamming the door shut in spite of his father’s protests.

“Uh, alright. Good talk, son,” Gabriel said from the other side of the door, his footsteps retreating.

Adrien groaned and collapsed onto his bed, his entire face ablaze. Plagg emerged from a desk drawer, brandishing a cheese danish.

“So, _loverboy_ -”

“Plagg, I swear, if you say _anything_ about what just happened, I’m swapping out all your camembert for brie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my canon is that gabriel agreste has not worn pajamas at all during his adult life and that he sleeps, eats, showers, etc. all in ridiculously expensive tailored suits, and now he is finally realizing the hype behind pj's


	3. bored in the house and I'm in the house bored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is, for lack of better words, bored as shit.
> 
> I'm finally back from the dead! I know, I'm sorry I've been gone, school has been pretty hectic and I was applying for a summer educational program which took a lot out of me, but bc of quarantine I actually have (a little) time to actually do stuff! Thank you for being so patient, now, on with the story!

Bed? Made. 

Teeth? Brushed.

Breakfast? Eaten.

Work clothes? On.

Adrien? At school.

Everything, it seemed, in Gabriel’s morning routine was done. 

Sure, he didn’t make his bed, Nathalie did, and his breakfast was just a bowl of sugar cereal in strawberry milk, and his so-called “work clothes” were just his own brand of Agreste silk pajamas, and he couldn’t be sure if Adrien was actually at school or out with a gang of roughhousing gangsters smoking cigarettes and graffitiing walls, oh god what if that’s exactly what he was doing, Gabriel should have never let Adrien walk to school alone-

 _Hey. You’re being unreasonable,_ Gabriel told himself _. Stop kidding yourself. You raised a kid who was so heroic and law-abiding that he was selected to be the keeper of a freaking miraculous. Not through any of your own parenting, of course, so it was a bit of a stretch to say that you raised a kid… Wait, why am I saying- er, thinking the word “freaking”? I’m an adult, I’m old enough to think the f-word, I should-_

Oh. _There you go again, Gabriel, always going on these stupid tangents for who knows how long-_

Maybe this cereal was doing things to his brain. Gabriel picked up the box and examined it carefully.

“Sir Chocolotto’s Super Sweet Sugar Loops,” he mumbled to himself. He turned over the box to look at the nutrition label. 

_That many grams of sugar? In a singular bowl of cereal?_ He looked closer at the recommended serving size and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“That’s for ½ a serving? Wait, how many servings did I…” He trailed off, realizing that he had just finished his 4th bowl and was on his 5th.

This lack of work was already draining, sapping Gabriel of all motivation to do anything, and now he was on the road to diabetes.

Great. This day was off to a great start.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

After about 2 hours of Candy Crush and 3 glasses of wine later ( _hey, day drinking is classy if your wine is expensive enough_ , at least, that was the lie Gabriel told himself to feel better about drinking at 9:30 in the morning), Gabriel was beginning to feel quite restless. 

_I have nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. I’ve already spoken to the ad consultants about the phasing out of Adrien’s fragrance_ (a decision that resulted from Adrien’s constant pleading for more time to focus on “school”, which Gabriel knew now as hero-ing, and less modeling) _and finished my drafts for the summer collection… what to do, what to do…_

“Nooroo?”

No reply.

“Nooroo? Where are you?” Gabriel was perplexed for a moment as to where his kwami could be, then realized that he was at school, spending time with Adrien’s kwami, _Plagg_ , as it called itself. 

Nathalie was gone. He had given her the day off and nine minutes later she had disappeared without a trace.

Jean-Paul, or the Gorilla, as Adrien referred to him, had also been given a day off, but he refused at first, citing his responsibility to Gabriel and more importantly, to Adrien. He eventually relented after Gabriel promised that he could come back tomorrow and do his job as per usual, but today… _today Gabriel needed to be alone_ . Jean-Paul eventually left, muttering something about a basket-weaving convention.

But as Gabriel was quickly realizing, being alone in a mansion with more than twenty rooms was, well, lonely. 

He let himself get distracted on Youtube for another hour, becoming incredibly engrossed in a video of a woman knitting what appeared to be ramen, because, _by that logic, a sort of ramen-cloth could be formed, and that cloth could perhaps be used to make clothes and-_

_No. No no no no no. I am Gabriel Agreste, world-renowned fashion designer, style extraordinaire, I will not allow myself to fall to such lows…_

_But, then again-_

**_No._ **

He needed some air.

Gabriel slid open the doors to his closed bedroom balcony and sat down in his white leather chaise that he couldn’t recall using at any point in the past 3 years.

 _I guess being Hawk Moth has a lot of disadvantages too,_ a part of him thought.

 _Well no_ **shit** , Sherlock, the other side retorted. 

He sat down and reclined in the chair, feeling his back crack in four different places. Since when was the last time that he really relaxed? He needed to call his masseuse. He picked up his pencil and sketchbook and began to draw. 

It had been about an hour since he had started drawing for Gabriel to realize _wow, this is the shittiest thing I’ve ever seen._

Okay… so maybe “ _the shittiest thing he’d ever seen_ ” was a bit overdoing it, but still.

It was no secret to himself that he had been drawing nothing but fashion designs for a number of years now, but _Jesus Christ_ , had his landscape drawing become that bad? He went to _art school_ for crying out loud.

_God, Gabriel, you can’t do anything right but fuck up your own kid’s life, huh?_

He sighed, massaged his brow, and set his sketchbook down.

_Is there anything that I can do that doesn’t involve disappointing Adrien or… myself?_

Gabriel contemplated for a moment. He had watched enough Youtube for the day, he had already eaten half the box of Sir Chocolotto’s Super Sweet Sugar Loops, and he had read every book in his library multiple times. Then, he remembered, there was one book that he was never able to fully understand-

After much deliberation, Gabriel decided to take it out. He unlocked the compartment behind his wife’s portrait, and there it was.

The miraculous book.

He leafed through the pages, understanding about as much as he had understood before, which, in comparison to how much there was in the book, wasn’t that much.

Still, he was bored, and when you have nothing to do, anything is better than nothing.

_You’re not even going to akumatize people anymore, why even bother?_

_Well, I do have nothing to do-_

No. Adrien was counting on him to be a good father. But if last night was any indication, it didn’t seem like Adrien even wanted his help…

Gabriel replayed the events of the previous night in his head, almost smiling to himself as he thought of how embarrassed his son was when he brought up Marinette. 

Of course, after three years of seeing Adrien’s friends, as well as countless design competitions and other events for aspiring designers, Gabriel couldn’t go without knowing who Marinette was, or even Alya and Nino for that matter. Gabriel very distinctly remembered Nino, how could he not, after their dramatic first encounter where Nino called him out for being too harsh on Adrien.

_Look at yourself, Gabriel, a fifteen-year-old had to tell you how to raise your own kid because you suck-_

He remembered Alya too. The inquisitive, boisterous girl with the glasses and ombre highlights. He knew her as the one who ran the Ladyblog, which he perused often for hours on end to find information about Ladybug and Chat Noir. 

_Wow, stalking a superhero blog for teenagers. That’s a normal thing for a middle-aged man-_

Adrien loved his friends very deeply. Gabriel could see it in his eyes on the rare occasion that Adrien had enough time to hang out with them. 

_That’s your own fault for not giving him time, you idiot._

Still, Gabriel wasn’t blind. Yeah, he was dumb enough to go three years without realizing his own son was Chat Noir, and he was dumb enough to pursue being Hawk Moth for that entire time without realizing the toll it took on Adrien as well as himself... but he wasn’t so dumb as to not see the way Adrien looked at Marinette. 

He remembered the way that Adrien had stuttered and stammered when Gabriel brought up Marinette. _My god, the kid was obvious. How had Marinette not known?_

 _At least there was something that Adrien inherited from his father’s side,_ Gabriel mused. 

If only there was a way for Gabriel to help Adrien and his love troubles...

He sat there for a moment, then looked down and realized why he had gone on this train of thought in the first place. 

_The book._

An idea suddenly formed in his head. 

He thought over it for a moment. _No, no, this was a bad idea. It could all go horribly wrong._ The last time he tried this…

What if he used a different method altogether? That could work-

 _But,_ he stopped himself, _Adrien will be angry if he finds out that you’re behind it. He might never forgive you._

_But then again, when has that ever stopped me?_

After weighing the idea in his head for about 1.5 minutes (a new record!), he made up his mind. He was going to do it.

Gabriel was going back to being Hawk Moth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hee hee plz don't kill me yet
> 
> I absolutely a d o r e reading y'all's comments whether they're short or long or praise or critique or even if you just wanna talk! please let me know what you think that stuff is my lifeblood and it keeps me motivated to write this story!! thank you for taking the time to read my humble offering to the fandom gods xx


	4. of coffee and emotional constipation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> let it be known that nathalie sancoeur can and will smack a bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *crawls out of hole cutely* hewwo
> 
> djshgdgjh IM SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG YALL, AP classes and the like as well as the shitloads of summer work I've had have been killing me, but have no fear, for this journey isn't over yet! now we actually have a plot, so yay for me knowing which direction I want to take this story in!
> 
> ALSO**i was rereading the earlier chapters and BOY- needless to say I made a few edits here and there, for you returning readers the plot hasn't changed a bit, I just added some here and took away there to prevent continuity errors and keep the tone and POVs of each chapter more consistent :D new readers, dw you weren't missing out on anything lol

How does one go about reverse-engineering an akuma?

As far as Gabriel knew, there was only one way to create the akumas that he had used during his time as Hawk Moth, and that was by infusing a butterfly with the negative emotions of a person and the ether, or essence of the butterfly miraculous. 

Was there perhaps a way to… reverse the effects of akumatization? Not getting rid of it, but creating different feelings, feelings that weren’t negative…

In other words, how do you make a love akuma?

Gabriel had… some experience in this field, having akumatized that one boy into Dark Cupid, but that didn’t really count. Dark Cupid made people hate each other. And in no uncertain terms, Gabriel needed to make people love each other. Namely, he needed to find a way to make Adrien’s crush like him back.

He had to be discreet about it. Adrien could never know that Gabriel was back to evildoing. Did this really count as evildoing though? After all, it was for a good cause…

Questions of morality aside, he was going to do it. After years and years of absolutely sabotaging every chance Gabriel had ever had to be a good father, he wanted to do at least one purely selfless thing for his son. 

He needed to figure out a cover, and fast.

Fashion designing?

No, he had already admitted to Adrien that he was ahead on the summer collection, he would see right through him.

A new hobby?

Gabriel snorted, recalling that he himself had once told Adrien that doing something simply for fun was a waste of time and that one would benefit more from spending time doing things actually worthwhile and useful. 

Looking back, there were a lot of things Gabriel had told Adrien that maybe weren’t the  _ best  _ things for a father to tell his developing son, but he could rectify that later.

Going back to school?

That wouldn’t do either, Gabriel had never shown an interest in furthering his education, and besides, what did one of the most successful fashion designers in France, in the world even, have left to learn?

_ A lot, actually, considering that said designer was plotting ways to use magic to set his basically-estranged son up with the girl he liked. _

Gabriel sighed to himself and collapsed onto his outrageously large too-big-for-one-person bed. He then promptly stuck his face into one of his goose feather pillows and screamed.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

With Gabriel being ahead on the summer collection, and Adrien’s photoshoots for the winter line being canceled, Gabriel had no way of distracting himself from the issue weighing on his mind. 

He knew that he wanted to use the miraculous book to create an akuma that would make people fall in love with each other, but was that even possible? Dark Cupid fed off of the hurt of being rejected by the one you love, and in turn, made people who loved each other hate each other. Such a reversal of feelings was characteristic of akumas.

Would akumatizing people  _ now  _ be hurting them? 

_ Perhaps not, if the akumatization was done in a different manner. _

Was it possible to… positively akumatize someone? That is, instead of using negative feelings as a catalyst for akumatization, use positive feelings, and cause them to spread said feelings to others. 

But the very nature of akumatization was temporary: who’s to say that the feelings wouldn’t just disappear after a certain amount of time?

_ Ugh. All of this thinking and theorizing is giving me a migraine. _

He needed to talk this out with someone, get a new perspective. But who? No one but Adrien knew that he was Hawkmoth-

-except for one person.

“Do you need me back, sir?”

“Hello to you too, Nathalie. And no, I just needed to discuss something with someone for a moment. And, perhaps, some advice would be in order as well.”

“I see.” 

“...is that it? Aren’t you going to say something?”

“I need to know if this is a personal or professional problem, sir. If it’s a professional problem, I will be able to redirect you to another member of your staff who may be able to provide you with the same level of assistance that I would. You did give me the day off, after all, and I intend to use it. However, given that you seem to be asking for advice, I’m assuming that it’s a personal problem.”

_ Spot on as always, Nathalie. _ “Yes, you’re right, it is a personal problem. To be quite frank, I don’t think I can speak to anyone else but you about this.”

“Oh.” Nathalie paused for a moment, and Gabriel could almost hear the figurative gears spinning away in her head over the phone. “In that case, I would like it if you confirmed something for me.”

“Alright then. What would you like to confirm?”

“Sir, as you know, I’ve been your assistant for many years now. Out of all of your staff, I know you the best. No one else is as attuned to the way you like to do things as I am, and no one else is as aware of your personality, likes, and dislikes as I am. Among these likes and dislikes, I know that one of the things you hate most is change.”

“I- yes, but Nathalie, where are you going with this?”

“So, no matter what I say, you won’t fire me.”

“Nathalie, I-  _ what _ ?”

“You won’t go through the trouble of picking out another assistant just to have to teach them your little quirks and how the company functions, and even if you do, they won’t ever know the company inside and out like I do. Besides, I’m the only one with whom you’ve entrusted your little  _ secret _ . You won’t fire me.”

“I-”

“Am I wrong?”

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess you aren’t. But Nathalie, why are you asking this?”

Nathalie exhaled audibly. “Because, sir, when you ask me for advice on your personal problems, I can’t be your polite and proper assistant. If you want actual advice and not just for me to soothe your ego, I can’t just say ‘yes sir’ or ‘absolutely sir’ the whole time, it won’t help you at all. The way I see it, some harsh words might be in order.”

Gabriel was stunned into silence. Was Nathalie essentially asking for permission to  _ bully  _ him into solving his problems? It seemed a bit drastic, but then again, it’s not like he had a choice. There was no one else he could really talk to.

Gabriel sighed in defeat. “Alright then. You have my full permission to say whatever you want with no consequence. Let it be known that I won’t fire you for anything you say to me.”

“Oh. Nice, glad to have that out of the way. So, what was it you wanted to discuss?”

“I- ah, I may have revealed my identity as Hawkmoth to Adrien.”

Silence.

“Nathalie?”

More silence.

“Nathalie, are you still there?”

“I’m coming over.”

“Nathalie, there’s no need, really, it’s not necessary- it’s alright if you just enjoy your day off-”

“Oh no, I think it’s  _ very  _ necessary.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Let the record show that Gabriel Agreste has never been this afraid of a woman who was nearly a head shorter than him since a few decades ago when his mother found questionable magazines under his bed when he was seventeen.

They were in Gabriel’s study, Gabriel nursing a cold espresso sitting opposite from Nathalie, who ignored her own café au lait in favor of glaring at Gabriel from behind her hand. She wasn’t wearing her usual business attire; instead, she had been wearing a casual sweater and jeans, saying that she had come straight from the park. It was admittedly jarring to see her in anything but her usual red turtleneck, but Gabriel tried to not dwell on that too hard and instead focus on the matter at hand.

“So,” Nathalie bit out, one hand holding her glasses and the other obscuring her eyes and pressing her temples, “Let me get this straight- you captured Chat Noir, found out that he was actually  _ Adrien _ , and then  _ revealed  _ yourself to him, throwing away everything you’ve been working towards for the past three years, and now you want to create what are essentially  _ love akumas  _ to get him together with the girl he likes to make up for years of emotional neglect?”

Gabriel winced.  _ Well, when you put it like that, it sounds terrible.  _ “That- would be correct, yes.”

“You know, all these years, I never really approved of your plan to get the miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir and use them to wish your ex-wife back-”

“We never outright got a divorce, so she’s still technically my wife-”

Nathalie removed her hand from her face to level him with a disappointed look.

“You- never mind, continue.”

“As I was  _ saying _ , I never really approved of your plan. You know, wishing her back won’t just suddenly fix everything; she left for a reason, after all, and wishing her back isn’t going to get rid of whatever marital issues you guys had back then.”

_ Wow. When Nathalie said that she was going to be harsh, she really wasn’t kidding. _

“But, I still helped you, because I believed that it at least had a possibility of making you happy. You’ve always been searching for something, you know- not just her, but something deeper. You throw yourself into your work because you don’t want to confront how you’re actually feeling, and I know you’ve been neglecting Adrien for all these years because he reminds you too much of her. Look, as much as you like to act all cool and emotionally unaffected, you’re an open book. Your emotional constipation is written all over your face in 20 pt. font.”

Gabriel visibly flinched. This was beginning to cut deep-  _ scratch that _ , this  _ was  _ cutting deep, really deep, much deeper than he was expecting or prepared for. He wasn’t exactly the most emotionally well-adjusted adult out there, so facing all of this was becoming a bit too much for him.  _ Did Nathalie secretly have a degree in psychology or something?  _ Who did she think she was, exposing his emotions in an instant like that?

“I-”

What was he even supposed to say? She was right, she knew that she was right,  _ he  _ knew that she was right, and  _ she knew that he knew  _ that she was right.

So, he said nothing, staring down at his folded hands like they had personally wronged him.

Nathalie gave him a pitying look before leaning back into her chair and sighing, setting her glasses on the table so that she could rub at her eyes. “You know, Gabriel-”

Call him dramatic, but he actually gasped at the use of his first name. He couldn’t remember Nathalie ever calling him anything but “sir” or “Mr. Agreste” at any point during his life, yet it rolled off of her tongue so naturally, it was almost scary.

She raised her eyebrows at that, looking absolutely unimpressed. “Really? Look, if you want me to give it to you straight, I can’t call you ‘sir’ the whole time. Regardless, this isn’t going to work. That emptiness you feel? Ignoring it isn’t going to fix it. And what you’re trying to do with Adrien? It’s never going to work. You can’t slap a bandaid over years of emotional neglect- these kinds of things take time, patience, and communication, not magic butterflies. I understand you want to do something for him, and I really do think your heart’s in the right place, but trust me, if anything you’ve told me so far about what happened between you two is true, then I know he wouldn’t react all too well if he found out that you turned around and went back to doing the very thing you  _ promised  _ him you wouldn’t do.”

Gabriel dropped his face into his hands and groaned.

“I get that the only way you’ve tried solving your problems for the past three years has been to put on that hideous mask and send out evil butterflies to feed off of other people’s emotions while ignoring your own, but come on, magic isn’t going to help with this.”

“Well, I get that  _ now _ .”

“I’m going to be brutally honest, you and Adrien probably need therapy.”

“You have been for the past half hour, no need for a disclaimer now,” Gabriel grumbled into his hands.

“Hey, don’t be like that.”

“Like what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gabriel snuck a peek from in between his fingers to see Nathalie scowling at him.

“You know exactly what I mean, Gabriel, don’t play dumb with me.”

At that, Gabriel sunk even deeper into his chair, telling himself that he very much  _ did not  _ know what Nathalie was talking about.  _ You know, like a liar. _

“For Christ’s sake-”

Gabriel petulantly refused to look at her anymore, which she seemed to have a problem with, seeing as she was now grabbing his hands and trying to wrench them off of his face.

“Gabriel, why can’t you just confront your emotions like a functioning adult instead of being difficult? This is childish!”

Gabriel didn’t dignify that with a response. That was apparently the wrong thing to do, as it resulted in her yanking at his hands so hard that he was pulled out of his chair, now eye to eye with a seething Nathalie.

“Gabriel, you-”

“Father, have you seen Na- Woah!”

Gabriel and Nathalie turned to the doorway of the study to see Adrien, apparently having just arrived home from school, wide-eyed with shock. 

“You know what, I’m just going to go now.” And with that, he slammed the door shut so hard Gabriel was sure that tremors rang out throughout the mansion.  _ Why had he reacted so strongly? _ It was just him and Nathalie.

Nathalie looked pale as a sheet, quickly dropping his hands in order to clutch her own.

Likely seeing the confusion on Gabriel’s face, Nathalie groaned.

“You know what that probably looked like to him, right?” 

_ Oh _ .

Adrien had just walked in on Nathalie clutching Gabriel’s hands, their faces not even more than ten centimeters apart, and her saying his first name at that. 

_ Shit _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall today i found out that Gabe's English VA is the same VA for Hisoka's English dub in Hunter x Hunter brb this piece of information absolutely fukin WRECKED me... it's cursed knowledge... i will never look at life the same way again
> 
> anyways PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YALL FELT ABOUT THIS CHAPTER!! if u liked it, if u didn't, what you expect to happen, anything! even if it's like a single emoji yalls comments are motivation in its purest form and I appreciate every single one of them ♡ (￣З￣)


	5. it's not what it looks like

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel fears for his life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apPARENTLY, Gabriel is canonically 220 CM,,, which is LIKE 7'2"- which is too much for me so I shrank him like a foot and now he and Adrien are both 6'something because I physically cannot fathom a 7 foot tall Gabriel it's Terrifying

Gabriel wasn’t exactly the most well-versed when it came to pop culture, but this situation was really beginning to feel like what he assumed a shitty rom-com would be like. It was almost hysterical. I mean, how often does your son walk in on you and your assistant having a heart to heart (read: scolding) in what just happened to be a slightly compromising position that made it look like you two were *ahem* perhaps… _involved_ … somehow?

Gabriel was almost inclined to laugh out loud, but he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the prospect of one Nathalie Sancoeur whacking him across the head with his desk lamp. 

(She probably wouldn’t do that, considering the legal trouble that would surely follow, and the certain loss of her job, but Gabriel could never be sure, especially with what had just transpired only seconds before.)

(Then again, Nathalie seemed to have no qualms with manhandling Gabriel to make him see the truth, so it’s not like he could exactly put it past her… and he _did_ agree that he wouldn’t fire her for anything she did…)

(He decided at that moment that from this moment on, he was never to offend Nathalie again. If at least for the sake of his own personal safety and wellbeing. It just wouldn’t be healthy.)

Gabriel was so caught up in his internal fears of being the victim of an aggravated assault that it took a neatly manicured hand finding its way onto his shoulder and violently shaking him like one would a maraca to get him out of his head. He had the slightly deranged thought that if he was a baby, he’d most certainly be dead. 

He lifted his head from his desk and looked up to meet Nathalie’s eyes, blue and hard with an emotion he couldn’t quite place. Frustration? Fear? Anger?

_“Gabriel.”_

Anger. Definitely anger.

_Today, I die. What should my last words be? I’ve never really thought about it before._

Gabriel steeled himself and stared back, not even daring to open his mouth to answer as he was sure that the only words that would come out would betray the fact that he was scared out of his wits. 

A small voice in his head wondered why he was so terrified of Nathalie, what with the fact that she was 1) so much shorter than him and 2) he was her BOSS, but the louder, much smarter voice told it to shut up and contemplate this again at a better time, like a time when he wasn’t about to be verbally, and perhaps _literally_ eviscerated by his assistant. 

Nathalie’s glare softened slightly, and she sighed to lean back and pinch the bridge of her nose.

“So. How are you going to explain this away to Adrien?”

Ah yes. The elephant in the room that Gabriel very much did not want to address or even mention or think about ever again in his life. Gabriel could feel his white hair turn even whiter at the very thought of how to explain what Adrien just walked in on. What was he even supposed to say? _“Oh, it was nothing, son, just that I was planning on returning to being Hawkmoth, you know, the very thing I promised you I wouldn’t do ever again not even a week ago, and Nathalie here was talking me out of it and somehow that ended with us caught in an extremely compromising position that may have appeared like we were romantically involved, so overall nothing to worry about. I hope this doesn’t completely obliterate the extremely fragile foundation of trust we were trying to rebuild after I lied to you for nearly three years about being virtually the biggest threat to Paris as well as your sworn archenemy while very nearly causing you physical harm. What do you want for dinner? I was thinking Croque Monsieur.”_

Gabriel let his head fall against the wood of his desk. Hopefully, it gave him a concussion.

He could feel Nathalie’s eyes boring holes into the back of his head, though, so he reluctantly lifted his head back up and met her eyes once again. She held the eye contact for a few seconds before sighing and picking up the coat she had left draped around her chair.

“Whatever you’re going to do, leave me out of it.”

“Wh- Nathalie-”

“Save it. I’ve already gotten into this mess by being around you for less than an hour, and I’m sure as hell not sticking around to see it get worse. I’m going to go use the rest of my day off. You should figure out what you’re going to tell Adrien, and fast. The longer you wait, the more it looks like a lie.”

Gabriel clamped his mouth shut and nodded. Nathalie slipped on her coat and gave him one last look, one that seemed to be of pity, before letting the corners of her mouth quirk up in what was almost a smile.

“I know it’s hard, and it’s going to be, for a long time. But what matters is that you’re trying to be better now. You don’t need to try and do this alone- I’m always here to tell you when your ideas are complete garbage. I always have been.”

At that, he felt the tension in his shoulders dissipate slightly. As much as Nathalie held one of the top spots for Gabriel’s worst fears, the thing he feared most was completely losing what little he had left of his family, and that was Adrien. And still, Nathalie’s fearsome alter ego only revealed itself out of concern for Adrien and himself.

“Thank you, Nathalie. I appreciate you helping me with my, er- less than professional problems.”

“Anytime.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Two full hours after Nathalie’s departure and three hours after what Gabriel had unceremoniously dubbed in his head as “The Incident,” Gabriel still hadn’t left his study to explain the situation to Adrien. 

“The longer you wait, the more it looks like a lie.”

_Well. I’m screwed._

Gabriel ran through whatever options he hadn’t yet exhausted in his head before deciding _screw it, I’m just going to wing it and hope it works,_ and walked to Adrien’s bedroom.

While, _yes, this was certainly a terrible idea,_ he had also done much worse throughout his lifetime, so he decided this was quite inoffensive by comparison. Causing city-wide property damage and mass panic was arguably worse than this, and the miraculous duo always ended up reversing the effects of his evildoing anyway.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the massive door to Adrien’s room, hand raised to knock. He hesitated for a moment before tapping his knuckles twice against the wood. He heard the shuffling of footsteps before the door was cracked open.

Adrien had somewhat of a second growth spurt around the age of seventeen, and at eighteen years of age he was nearly Gabriel’s height, and would be if not for the way Gabriel styled his hair making him a few centimeters taller than Adrien (Gabriel was also in the habit of wearing shoes with just a bit of lift, something Nathalie would surely chastise him for if she knew, which added a few more centimeters). However, Adrien, even with all his height, seemed to cower slightly upon himself in the crack of the doorway, looking up at Gabriel with a look of what seemed to be thinly veiled constipation. Adrien seemed to be attempting an easygoing smile and was failing miserably at it. Whatever facade he was trying so hard to create crumbled the second he opened his mouth to croak out a feeble “H-how’s it going, Father?”

Gabriel absentmindedly wondered how Adrien had managed to hide his identity for three whole years without raising even an ounce of suspicion. He was so painfully bad at acting that it honestly hurt Gabriel to see. Watching Adrien try and feign nonchalance was like watching a car accident- it was incredibly awful to witness but impossible to look away.

They had their share of uncomfortable silences throughout the years since Emilie’s disappearance, but this- this surely ranked in the top 10 Worst Agreste Silences of All Time™. 

Surprisingly, it was Gabriel himself who ended up breaking the silence first.

“So… about what you saw back there-”

“It’s fine.”

Gabriel really needed to teach Adrien to stop interrupting every time someone else spoke- or perhaps he didn’t do that to everyone, maybe it was just Gabriel who he interrupted. Either way, it was getting to be quite annoying. 

“Adrien, please, just give me a moment to explain. It really wasn’t what it looked like-”

Adrien’s expression of constipation quickly morphed into one of disgusted incredulity. 

“Really? _That’s_ the one you’re going with?”

Since when had Adrien been so, for lack of a better term, _sassy_? 

Memories of Chat Noir in all his flamboyance suddenly flashed through Gabriel’s mind as he realized _ah, right, so that’s where it’s from._

Gabriel struggled for a way to explain himself because _really, it wasn’t what it looked like,_ but Adrien began speaking before he could.

“I mean, if you and Nathalie are happy, then I’m happy for you guys.”

“I don’t- wait, really?”

“Well- yeah, of course? Why wouldn’t I be?”

_Oh, no reason, just that I thought you hated me for what I did and that you’d want to see me in eternal misery for neglecting you all those years, I mean, I sure deserve it._

Gabriel really should have focused on refuting the assumption that he and Nathalie were in a romantic relationship of some variety, but the fact that Adrien actually cared about his happiness was sending him into an emotional freefall of sorts.

 _Man, Nathalie was right. We really_ do _need therapy._

He was so stunned that he completely forgot to reply to Adrien’s question, which very well might have been rhetorical, but his increased silence was beginning to draw confusion from Adrien.

“Uh, Father? You awake? It’s only 8:00 P.M.”

“I… am awake, yes, I am an awake person.”

Adrien blinked, obviously not buying it.

“I _am_ awake, Adrien, I was just... spacing out for a moment.”

“Okay, space out somewhere that’s not my doorway. I have stuff to do.”

“I just-” 

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Nathalie began to make itself known in his head. _Come on, Gabriel, make your thoughts known. Proper communication is key to healthy interpersonal relationships._

“I’m glad. That you’re glad. For us.”

 _Us? US? Gabriel, I swear…_ the Nathalie voice berated him, and only then did Gabriel realize his mistake.

Adrien shrugged. “I wouldn’t be upset over something like this. It’s not like I didn’t expect it.”

Adrien seemed to notice Gabriel’s eyebrows shooting up into his hairline at that, so he continued.

“You know, Father, you’re not as subtle as you think you are. I know you’re probably the type to think it’s unprofessional or whatever to date your employees, but you and Nathalie spend too much time together to be just platonic, even with her being your assistant. Also, sometimes when she talks about you, she looks a little less stoic, almost like she has actual human emotions? It’s weird, and it doesn’t happen super often, usually only for a few seconds before the stoic-ness is back, but it happens.”

 _That’s… interesting._ Gabriel would have to file away that detail for later reference.

“Is that so?”

“It is. You know, I am glad you have someone. For a long time, I thought you’d never really get over Mom. I’m happy you’re finally moving on. Though, Nathalie might not be too enthusiastic about how many pictures of Mom you keep around the house.” 

Adrien gave Gabriel a small half-smile. Gabriel was truly speechless.

“Now, Father, if you’ll excuse me, I have to study for my Bac exam, and I’d rather not spend more time than necessary talking about… _this_.”

And before Gabriel could protest, Adrien had shut and locked the door.

After a few minutes of staring bug-eyed and open-mouthed at Adrien’s door, it suddenly dawned on Gabriel that he hadn’t done the one thing he had come to Adrien’s room to do- deny that he and Nathalie were dating, romantically involved, _whatever-_ and now he had essentially confirmed to Adrien that they were.

Nathalie really was going to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love the idea of Gabriel lying awake at night thinking of Nathalie but instead of it being romantic he's just lying there in fear of what's to come and thinking about what color the lilies at his funeral are going to be
> 
> thank you all so much for reading this story and sticking with me so far throughout this long and hard journey, I'm so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you who has interacted with this fic in some way shape or form!! please let me know how you felt about this chapter or any chapter or the story in general in the comments!! they are motivation distilled to its purest form and I appreciate every single one of them!! <3


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